My father-in-law and I have debated this for years. I say no, they’re not, but there are elements of athleticism involved in what they do. Just like there are elements of athleticism in golf, poker, nursing, doing yard work, or playing video games. What say y’all?
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I don’t think they are athletes in the traditional sense. Racing is a physically demanding sport, but IMO, they are race car drivers…
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I’ve seen some pretty nonathletic drivers in the lower classes, but when you get to the “big” classes in dirt track you don’t see a lot of fat drivers. 
. Maybe depending on the style of racing? I would say some of your endurance races the drivers are most certainly athletic.
I’d say more physically demanding than baseball, but not football or basketball.
“If Bruce Jenner can keep his wiener and be called a woman, I can keep my firearms and be considered disarmed.”
Jimmie Johnson flew in last summer after a Saturday night race to do the James Island sprint marathon. He said he didn’t do good on the bike course because it had right hand turns…
Spend 3 or 4 hours suited up in a screaming hot car and you might change your mind. It’s very physically demanding.
Boat drinks, Waitress I need 2 more boat drinks!
No
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Originally posted by Too BusySpend 3 or 4 hours suited up in a screaming hot car and you might change your mind. It’s very physically demanding.
Boat drinks, Waitress I need 2 more boat drinks!
So is digging a ditch, but that doesn’t make you an athlete. Lots of things are physically demanding but you don’t have to be an athlete to do them.
Yes, they are.
If you have never done it, you can’t imagine the real work that is done to keep the human body planted in a seat when subjecting it to numerous rapid changes in Gs. While doing this, the driver must operate with truly remarkable hand/foot-eye coordination to deal with constantly changing vehicle dynamics to put the car where he wants.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7gmbQ8KxM4
Shows the Gs the driver is coping with (but, leaves out the vertical where there is are huge accelerations) and driver’s pulse and such.
That guy has enormous tungsten…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMjd75io4DI
Can watch the passenger is this car get thrown around. The driver is dealing with all the same Gs, all the same pounding and making some pretty precise driving look easy.
More in car footage of WRC - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfruy3MnhWg
17’ Henry O Hornet w/ Johnson 88 spl
26’ Palmer Scott project hull
14’ Bentz-Craft w/ Yamaha 25
One of my wife’s cousins is 19 and has been working his way up the open wheel circuit racing in both the US and Europe. 2 years ago I had the chance to ride with him in a Nissan GT-R that had been set up to road race at road Atlanta. I attempted to hold my phone up to video the first lap or so. That lasted 1 corner bc the G’s basically threw me and my arms to the left and the phone landed between my feet. After a couple laps of doing close to 200mph on the straights, well over 100 in a lot of the corners and being tossed around like a rag doll in the harness I had no doubt that someone who can do that for hours at a time is a athlete. As far as my video went It was probably a good thing that all you could hear was the car and tires bc all I did was alternate manic laughter with cussing.
Absolutely not, all they do is drive a car, big deal.
Michael Jordan played basketball and baseball. Bo Jackson played football and baseball. Jim Thorpe did it all. Deion Sanders played football and baseball for nine seasons, Deion also ran a 40 in 4.6 seconds backwards!!,4.19 forward. Jim Brown, Jackie-Joyner Kersee, Cheryl Miller. I could keep listing…
How many of them could drive a car going 200 MPH, in traffic, for 500 miles and have a chance of winning:question:
just depends how “athlete” is defined
I think I’m in decent shape, have played a few sports, recreationally and competitively
I have a few thousand skydives, have been on competitive teams, make 5-8 jumps on a normal day, was on a world record with 246 people - that requires skill, eye, hand, leg and body control, intense concentration, ability to work in 3-D, etc., about 75 seconds of freefall and 3-4 minutes of canopy time trying to not hit anyone, so 5-6 minutes then you can relax
a race car driver has to do all that stuff and more for hours, if you haven’t tried it you should, go to the Rusty Wallace NASCAR driving experience and try it, I did 10-laps in December, the seats are metal, you are belted in tight enough that you can’t easily move, I passed one car with me at 145 mph and them at 110ish - that was scary enough, I was beat up, tired and mentally wrecked, the next day I was bruised and sore
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Originally posted by poly ballAbsolutely not, all they do is drive a car, big deal.
Michael Jordan played basketball and baseball. Bo Jackson played football and baseball. Jim Thorpe did it all. Deion Sanders played football and baseball for nine seasons, Deion also ran a 40 in 4.6 seconds backwards!!,4.19 forward. Jim Brown, Jackie-Joyner Kersee, Cheryl Miller. I could keep listing…
Didnt name one white person. Imagine that.
Riding in a car as a passenger is physically harder than driving. You don’t have the centrally placed wheel to grip and you don’t know exactly when to adjust balance when turning, accelerating, or decelerating. How many 5’8" 150 lb 43 year olds are winning anything in other sports? Jeff Gordon won 5 races and finished third in the sprint cup series last year. He probably couldn’t hang with most highschool athletes.
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Originally posted by 7csquote:Jim Thorpe not close enough for you?
Originally posted by poly ballAbsolutely not, all they do is drive a car, big deal.
Michael Jordan played basketball and baseball. Bo Jackson played football and baseball. Jim Thorpe did it all. Deion Sanders played football and baseball for nine seasons, Deion also ran a 40 in 4.6 seconds backwards!!,4.19 forward. Jim Brown, Jackie-Joyner Kersee, Cheryl Miller. I could keep listing…
Didnt name one white person. Imagine that.
First, Most, Biggest
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Originally posted by poly ballAbsolutely not, all they do is drive a car, big deal.
Michael Jordan played basketball and baseball. Bo Jackson played football and baseball. Jim Thorpe did it all. Deion Sanders played football and baseball for nine seasons, Deion also ran a 40 in 4.6 seconds backwards!!,4.19 forward. Jim Brown, Jackie-Joyner Kersee, Cheryl Miller. I could keep listing…
you so funny! shows your lack of knowledge on racing. but please keep listing other sports. Offensive and defensive linemen cannot run 4.4 40s. Does that make them any less of an athlete than a wide receiver? No, it makes them a different type of athlete.
Driving a car down the highway at 70-80 mph is very different from driving a race car around a track at 200 mph for four hours. With temps reaching 120 degrees and no water boy to help. I think it takes physical skill and stamina to deal with that.
Neat topic Black Bart! Racing of all kinds is a sport in my Book and the drivers are athletes. Add in motorcross and I believe you have the most demanding sport out there. …
“If Bruce Jenner can keep his wiener and be called a woman, I can keep my firearms and be considered disarmed.”
quote:
Originally posted by poly ballAbsolutely not, all they do is drive a car, big deal.
Michael Jordan played basketball and baseball. Bo Jackson played football and baseball. Jim Thorpe did it all. Deion Sanders played football and baseball for nine seasons, Deion also ran a 40 in 4.6 seconds backwards!!,4.19 forward.</font id=“red”> Jim Brown, Jackie-Joyner Kersee, Cheryl Miller. I could keep listing…
Deion actually ran a 4.21 while he was at FSU. Don’t know what his official combine time was, but he’s the fastest person I’ve ever seen with pads on. And Bo’s the second fastest.
And by the way, Bo turned a 4.12 at 227lbs ([:0]) in Indianapolis, although it’s considered unofficial, as the combine hadn’t yet adopted electronic timing.
And I wasn’t trying to split hairs or show you up, Bolbs; I can quote a lot of their stats from memory. Those two guys are, in my opinion, the first and second finest athletes God’s hands have yet to create.
“I’m not a hundred percent in love with your tone right now…”
Would you call Military Special Operators, athletes! I would. I’d like to see any of those named, compete with one of them as an overall athlete!
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Originally posted by EasyHow many of them could drive a car going 200 MPH, in traffic, for 500 miles and have a chance of winning:question:
Funny you say that, Easy, because your point has always been my primary fuel in making the opposite point:
Athletes’ bodies are their “primary” tool in their given sport; for them, the ball, racket or whatever is complimentary to them. With a race car driver, the CAR is the primary tool. That’s why guys in their mid-forties and women who’ve never even sniffed a first-place finish can compete at the same level…
“I’m not a hundred percent in love with your tone right now…”
^^^^Right on Easy, specially after being deprived of food and rest/sleep for a week^^^:smiley:
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Bart, I believe that it’s mental toughness and reflex’s that are required. Most elite athletes excel in 1 discipline. They can run fast, hit, catch or throw a ball. They have only done 1 thing, their whole life! Each discipline requires training and skill that everyone doesn’t possess, at the top level! Is a football player, more of an athlete than a pole vaulter? Can the pole vaulter out run most football players? Probably! Can either of them out drive a NASCAR or Formula 1 driver! Hell no! So why isn’t a driver an athlete, in his discipline?